World Trade Centerhttp://www.businessinsider.com/category/world-trade-center
en-usTue, 31 Mar 2015 18:48:56 -0400Tue, 31 Mar 2015 18:48:56 -0400The latest news on World Trade Center from Business Insiderhttp://static3.businessinsider.com/assets/images/bilogo-250x36-wide-rev.pngBusiness Insiderhttp://www.businessinsider.com
http://www.businessinsider.com/tech-companies-are-flocking-to-the-new-world-trade-center-2015-1Tech Companies Are Flocking To The New World Trade Centerhttp://www.businessinsider.com/tech-companies-are-flocking-to-the-new-world-trade-center-2015-1
Thu, 08 Jan 2015 12:55:47 -0500Claire Moses
<p><span><img style="float:right;" src="http://static3.businessinsider.com/image/54aec2ca6da8111b5be2093f-1200-924/one-world-trade-center-open-3.jpg" border="0" alt="one world trade center open">Although financial firms filled the original twin towers, One and Four World Trade Center are&nbsp;attracting a new breed&nbsp;of tenants: technology, media and advertising companies. </span></p>
<p><span>These companies often need less office space, however, leaving relatively more space vacant in the massive towers. At the current rate of leasing, the towers won’t reach 95 percent occupancy until 2019. </span></p>
<p><span>Most new tenants, including One World Trade’s&nbsp;anchor, Condé Nast, have come from the creative sector. And at Silverstein Properties Four World Trade Center, MediaMath inked a lease for 106,000 square feet, making it&nbsp;one of the largest&nbsp;tenants in the building. Gaming company High 5 has also signed a lease there, indicating that the area is becoming "much hipper," according to Bloomberg.</span></p>
<p><span> Currently, roughly 3.3 million square feet — including the 1.2 million square feet that is occupied by Condé Nast —&nbsp;has been leased out at the pair of buildings. While financial firms made up 80 percent of the office space in the twin towers, they make up 1.3 percent of current tenants, according to Bloomberg. TAMI tenants — which took about 3 percent at the old World Trade Center — have taken up roughly 33 percent of the tower’s space so far. Government tenants occupy&nbsp;roughly 40 percent. </span></p>
<p><span>"People were expecting financial companies to be a substantial portion of the leased space," Christopher Jones, vice president of research at New York’s&nbsp;Regional Plan Association told the website. "I don’t think many people would have thought that it would be virtually nothing." </span></p>
<p><span>One World Trade Center&nbsp;opened in November. Roughly 2 million square feet are still vacant at both One and Four World Trade Center, the first two towers to reopen at Ground Zero after the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks.&nbsp;&nbsp;[via <a href="http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2015-01-07/world-trade-center-towers-fill-slowly-in-shift-to-tech.html">Bloomberg News</a>]</span></p><p><strong>SEE ALSO:&nbsp;<a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/pixar-cofounder-ed-catmull-lists-hawaiian-home-2015-1" >Pixar Cofounder Ed Catmull Is Selling His Hawaiian Vacation Home For $20 Million</a></strong></p>
<p><a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/tech-companies-are-flocking-to-the-new-world-trade-center-2015-1#comments">Join the conversation about this story &#187;</a></p> http://www.businessinsider.com/amazing-aerial-footage-of-america-2014-12This Amazing Aerial Video From The 1980s Provides A Remarkable View Of Americahttp://www.businessinsider.com/amazing-aerial-footage-of-america-2014-12
Sun, 14 Dec 2014 13:22:00 -0500Devan Joseph
<p>Filmmaker&nbsp;<a href="https://vimeo.com/user7078154" rel="author">Harrison Sanborn</a>&nbsp;put together&nbsp;a collection of aerial footage shot by his dad in the late 1980's providing a remarkable view of famous American landmarks. He had the film re-scanned at 2K resolution and then edited this piece together.<br><br><em>Video courtesy of <a href="http://harrisonsanborn.com/">Harrison Sanborn</a>.<br><br><strong>Follow BI Video:</strong><span>&nbsp;</span><a href="https://www.facebook.com/BusinessInsider.Video">On Facebook</a></em></p><p><a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/amazing-aerial-footage-of-america-2014-12#comments">Join the conversation about this story &#187;</a></p> http://www.businessinsider.com/wtc-transportation-hub-is-4-billion-2014-12Why The World Trade Center Transportation Hub Is Going To Cost $4 Billionhttp://www.businessinsider.com/wtc-transportation-hub-is-4-billion-2014-12
Thu, 04 Dec 2014 13:34:00 -0500Dennis Green
<p><img style="float:right;" src="http://static4.businessinsider.com/image/548077f4eab8ead25ca28266-1200-924/wtcpath.jpg" border="0" alt="WTCPath" style="font-size: 15px;"></p><p></p>
<p><span style="font-size: 15px; line-height: 1.5em;">Fact: The new World Trade Center Transportation Hub in Lower Manhattan will go&nbsp;</span><span style="font-size: 15px; line-height: 1.5em;">down as one of the worst public-works construction projects in US history.</span></p>
<p>Eight years overdue and with more than $2 billion in cost overruns, there are very few things that went right with the Port Authority of NY and NJ's project.</p>
<p>Designed by famed Spanish architect Santiago Calatrava, the building's white spines were supposed to represent a bird taking flight and evoke something "metaphysical." Instead, they just represent a huge boondoggle.</p>
<p>The failure is a classic case of too many hands on the project, trying to please too many people, and ending with a finished product that, in effect, pleases no one.</p>
<p>The New York Times <a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2014/12/03/nyregion/the-4-billion-train-station-at-the-world-trade-center.html?partner=rss&amp;emc=rss&amp;_r=1">released a report</a>&nbsp;outlining all the missteps and poor planning that led to that huge $4 billion total, which include:</p>
<ul>
<li>
<p><strong>$655 million</strong>&nbsp;in administrative costs, including&nbsp;"management, supervision, inspection, monitoring and documentation, among other items."</p>
</li>
<li>
<p><strong>$355 million</strong> or more to build around the 1 line of the New York City Subway. At the time the station was designed, then-Governor George Pataki, a Republican, was considering a run for president. The 1 line, which bisects the Transportation Hub, connects Staten Island commuters from the ferry to the rest of Manhattan. Staten Island also happens to be a Republican stronghold in largely Democratic New York City. The result: Pataki and the MTA pushed to keep the 1 line open through the new hub's construction, even though it made the building process considerably more complicated.</p>
</li>
<li>
<p><strong>$78 million</strong> for former New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg's demand that the adjacent Sept. 11 Memorial be finished before the 10th anniversary of the attacks. This re-prioritized the phases of construction and complicated construction procedures.</p>
</li>
<li>
<p><strong>$474 million</strong> for steel. It was sourced from specialized factories, including one in Northern Italy.</p>
</li>
<li>
<p><strong>$500 million</strong>&nbsp;in money-saving measures suggested to the Port Authority that were ultimately rejected.&nbsp;</p>
</li>
<li>
<p><strong>$323 million</strong>&nbsp;for the temporary PATH station — which will be torn down when the new hub replaces it.</p>
</li>
<li>
<p><strong>$400 million</strong>&nbsp;for improvement to adjacent structures, which actually had little to do with the hub project itself. This included electrical, mechanical, and plumbing projects.</p>
</li>
<li>
<p><strong>$80 million </strong>for Calatrava's design contribution to the elaborate project.</p>
</li>
<li>
<p><strong>$400 million</strong>&nbsp;for the design of many of the above-ground elements of the hub, which were done by&nbsp;the Downtown Design Partnership.</p>
</li>
<li>
<p><strong>$982.5 million&nbsp;</strong>for the Port Authority's construction contractor, Phoenix Constructions. Phoenix hired subcontractors after the Port Authority and Phoenix couldn't come to an agreement on the maximum price of the project, which drove the price up.</p>
</li>
<li>
<p><strong>Not-yet-known costs</strong>, including damage done by Hurricane Sandy and mistakes made during construction. These costs are expected to total in the hundreds of millions of dollars.</p>
</li>
</ul>
<p><span>Port Authority Vice Chair Scott Rechler put it best when he <a href="http://online.wsj.com/articles/complex-design-political-fights-send-world-trade-center-rail-hubs-cost-soaring-1409788832">told the Wall Street Journal</a>,&nbsp;</span><span style="font-size: 15px; line-height: 1.5em;">“Did you need to build the [then-estimated] $3.7 billion transportation hub to achieve the meaningfulness of the World Trade Center redevelopment? In hindsight, I don’t know if I would have come to that conclusion.”</span></p>
<p><span style="font-size: 15px; line-height: 1.5em;"><img style="float:right;" src="http://static1.businessinsider.com/image/51afad75eab8eaf247000000-458-340/station_night.jpg" border="0" alt="World Trade Center WTC transportation hub exterior rendering"></span></p>
<p><span style="font-size: 15px; line-height: 1.5em;"><span>When the Port Authority’s board authorized the project in 2004, the cost was estimated to be $2 billion, with</span><span>&nbsp;$1.7 billion from the Federal Transit Administration and a $300 million contribution from the Port Authority. Now that the cost has doubled, where the extra funds will come from seems to be a mystery.</span></span></p>
<p><span style="font-size: 15px; line-height: 1.5em;"><span>In 2009, the Port Authority requested an additional $662 million from the federal government, with a pledge to finish the project in 2015. Indeed, t</span></span><span style="font-size: 15px; line-height: 1.5em;">he full hub, which will include the spined Oculus, underground hallways and a retail mezzanine, and the already-operating PATH station, is expected to open December 2015.</span></p>
<p><span style="font-size: 15px; line-height: 1.5em;">We'll have to wait and see whether it was all worth it. But it's not looking good.</span></p><p><strong>SEE ALSO:&nbsp;<a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/images-of-londons-crossrail-2014-12" >Check Out These Stunning New Images Of London's Crossrail Network</a></strong></p>
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<p><a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/wtc-transportation-hub-is-4-billion-2014-12#comments">Join the conversation about this story &#187;</a></p> http://www.businessinsider.com/afp-one-world-trade-center-fills-hole-in-manhattan-skyline-2014-11One World Trade 'Is The Most Secure Office Building In The World'http://www.businessinsider.com/afp-one-world-trade-center-fills-hole-in-manhattan-skyline-2014-11
Mon, 17 Nov 2014 10:05:00 -0500Brigitte Dusseau
<p><img style="float:right;" src="http://static5.businessinsider.com/image/546815955afbd30b768b4567-800/afp-one-world-trade-center-fills-hole-in-manhattan-skyline.jpg" border="0" alt="The opening of One World Trade Center, on the site of the Twin Towers that were destroyed on September 11, 2001, signals a long-awaited return to normal in the Big Apple"></p><p>New York (AFP) - The jewel of the New York skyline, the pride of a whole nation, is back.</p>
<p>The opening of One World Trade Center, on the site of the Twin Towers that were destroyed on September 11, 2001, signals a long-awaited return to normal in the Big Apple.</p>
<p>Since November 3, with little fanfare, some 500 employees of the media group Conde Nast moved in. They are due to be joined by another 3,000 in early 2015.</p>
<p>There are also support staff on site -- brought into sharp relief this week by the spectacular rescue of two window washers suspended from the 69th floor.</p>
<p>The symbolic 1,776-foot (541-meter) tower -- including its antenna -- is the tallest in the United States and in the Western hemisphere.</p>
<p>Its tapered glass silhouette overlooks the September 11 Memorial, dedicated to the 2,753 victims of the New York attacks, along with six victims of a first attack on the Twin Towers in 1993, and sits next to the museum focused on the drama.</p>
<p>The $3.9 billion, 104-story tower "is the most secure office building any place in the world," said Patrick Foye, executive director of the Port Authority of NY and NJ, which owns the site.</p>
<p>The monumental lobby, with soaring ceilings some 47 feet high and white marble throughout, is protected by a special wall that can withstand explosions.</p>
<p>Its concrete foundation is 185 feet tall. A staircase is dedicated to emergency responders, and concrete protects the elevators and stairways.&nbsp;</p>
<p>The communications system was designed in collaboration with police, the FBI, the Department of Homeland Security as well as private experts, Foye said.</p>
<h2>360-degree vistas&nbsp;</h2>
<p><span style="line-height: 1.5em;">From high up in the tower, the 360-degree view offers glimpses of the Statue of Liberty to the south and the Empire State Building and Central Park to the north.</span></p>
<p>For Big Apple visitors looking to orient themselves within Manhattan, One World Trade Center is a clear landmark at the southern end of the urban island.&nbsp;</p>
<p>For New Yorkers, it's a long-awaited sign of the determination to rebuild, slowed for years by political negotiations over just what should be done on "Ground Zero," and then by a hurting economy.</p>
<p>Initially dubbed "Freedom Tower," before its name was changed in 2009, One World Trade Center finally broke ground in 2006. Construction was completed at the end of 2013.</p>
<p>Some 65 percent of the space has already been rented out, Foye said during a visit to the 61st floor, rejecting the idea that some were afraid to move there because of the site's bloody history.</p>
<p>Among the new tenants -- aside from Conde Nast, which will occupy floors 20 to 44 -- are online gamemaker Hi5, publicity group Kids Creative and the China Center, which fosters cultural exchanges between the United States and China.&nbsp;</p>
<p><img src="http://static2.businessinsider.com/image/546a0e53eab8eab06e0551bc-1200-800/rtr4cnk6.jpg" border="0" alt="one world trade conde nast">In all, about 5,000 people will be working in the new tower.&nbsp;</p>
<p>And by next spring, the observatory, on the 100th, 101st and 102nd floors, will open to the public, with entry fees set at $32.</p>
<h2>Return to normal</h2>
<p><span style="line-height: 1.5em;">The opening of the new tower "represents a return to normalcy down here," Foye said, emphasizing that the people will be working there, eating in the nearby restaurants, using the subway stop that should be ready early next year, and shopping in the hundreds of thousands of square feet of shops that continue to open.</span></p>
<p>When the Twin Towers still stood, the neighborhood was mainly used as offices, and was nearly deserted by evening. But thanks to new residential construction, the population of lower Manhattan has tripled, from 20,000 to 60,000.&nbsp;</p>
<p>"This is a sign of the revitalization of downtown New York city," said Foye, of "the city and state and region and nation's response to 9/11."</p>
<p>The memorial and museum "will for ever commemorate what happened here," and the nearly 3,000 people who died, he said.&nbsp;</p>
<p>"We will never forget that, but I think that we want to do now is to look forward, and the site is a site of progress."</p><p><strong>SEE ALSO:&nbsp;<a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/memorable-meals-to-eat-in-your-lifetime-2014-11" >43 Meals Everyone Should Eat In Their Lifetime</a></strong></p>
<p><a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/afp-one-world-trade-center-fills-hole-in-manhattan-skyline-2014-11#comments">Join the conversation about this story &#187;</a></p> http://www.businessinsider.com/new-york-city-window-washer-rescue-saved-2014-11What It's Like To Be A Window Washer In New York Cityhttp://www.businessinsider.com/new-york-city-window-washer-rescue-saved-2014-11
Wed, 12 Nov 2014 14:58:00 -0500Matt Johnston and Michael B Kelley
<p><img style="float:right;" src="http://static5.businessinsider.com/image/5463b647eab8ea6623a12573-1200-924/window-washer.jpg" border="0" alt="Window washer"></p><p>Two window washers <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/window-washers-trapped-on-scaffolding-dangling-from-one-world-trade-center-2014-11">were dramatically rescued</a> today after being caught dangling from WTC 1.&nbsp;<span>The workers were secured in the scaffolding after a cable broke and it began to hang from the building.</span></p>
<p><span>One World Trade Center is the tallest building in the Western Hemisphere.</span></p>
<p><span>It may be something that hundreds do every day in New York City, but don't let the routine-ness of it fool you, it's dangerous business working that high up in the air.</span></p>
<p>Back in February 2013, Adam Higginbotham of<span style="font-size: 15px; line-height: 1.5em;">&nbsp;</span><a href="http://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2013/02/04/life-at-the-top">The New Yorker spent some time</a><span style="font-size: 15px; line-height: 1.5em;"> with window washers at the&nbsp;<span>Hearst Tower on Eighth Avenue in Manhattan</span>&nbsp;to get a sense of what their lives and work are like. It was an eye-opening article.</span></p>
<p><span style="font-size: 15px; line-height: 1.5em;">"Having completed their safety checks, the three-man crew at Hearst climbed into the cleaning basket for their trip down the side of the tower. Bob Menzer stood alone at one end, separated from Brown and Kasparek by one of the unique features of the rig—a cylindrical turret around which either end of the platform could fold toward the other, forming a ninety-degree angle. The boom arm lifted the basket from the roof, forty feet into the air and out over the building’s parapet, and the thirty-six-and-a-half-ton roof car began almost imperceptibly to move along its track toward the corner of the building," <span>Higginbotham wrote. </span></span></p>
<p><span style="font-size: 15px; line-height: 1.5em;"><span>"</span>When I went out on the scaffold myself, this proved to be the most unnerving stage of the process: as the basket cleared the parapet, a frigid wind scythed across Columbus Circle, humming in the rigging overhead, and each time I shifted my weight the narrow platform swayed sickeningly, like the world’s most appalling fairground ride. Menzer, resting his elbows on the edge of the basket with the serenity of a man watching ducks on a village pond, controlled each of the rig’s movements using a set of sixteen buttons on a remote-control box. When the car reached the northeast corner of the tower, the basket hung in the air above Eighth Avenue and slowly folded into a right angle. It was ready for a 'bird’s mouth' drop."</span></p>
<p><span style="font-size: 15px; line-height: 1.5em;">One of those drops t<span>akes around four hours on an average day, and "given good weather, it takes a month to clean the whole tower from top to bottom."</span></span></p>
<p>Delicate business indeed, and not for the faint of heart.</p>
<p><span><span>Higginbotham noted that being a window washer in the US is "<span>significantly safer than driving a cab." </span></span></span></p>
<p><span><span><span>With that in mind, the danger is real as most of the occupational injuries are from falling from elevation: "<span>Even from thirty feet, only half of those who fall survive."</span></span></span></span></p>
<p><span><span><span><span><span><span>Window washer Ron Zeibig</span><span>&nbsp;told the New Yorker that the "rule</span>&nbsp;is four floors.&nbsp;</span><span>Two-hundred-pound man, four floors—you’re dead.”</span></span></span></span></span></p>
<p><span style="font-size: 15px; line-height: 1.5em;">And one added complication these days is the buildings tend to be much more slanted now.</span></p>
<p>"Years ago, it was just straight up and down, flat glass. Bing! Now everything they’re building is all angles.”</p>
<h2><a href="http://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2013/02/04/life-at-the-top">You can read the whole article here &gt;</a></h2>
<p><span>Here are some photos from the rescue today:</span></p>
<p><span><img src="http://static3.businessinsider.com/image/5463b252eab8eab90ea1257c-951-534/window washer scaffolding.png" border="0" alt="Window washer scaffolding"></span><span style="font-size: 15px; line-height: 1.5em;">Here was the view from the 68th floor:</span></p>
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" lang="en">
<p>Now: <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/FDNY?src=hash">#FDNY</a> rescuing workers trapped on scaffolding outside 1 World Trade Center. View from the 68th floor. <a href="http://t.co/3c7Oi8EZPD">pic.twitter.com/3c7Oi8EZPD</a></p>
— FDNY (@FDNY) <a href="https://twitter.com/FDNY/status/532605300055216128">November 12, 2014</a></blockquote>
<script async="" src="//platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8" type="text/javascript"></script>
<p>Here are some more photos:</p>
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" lang="en">
<p>Port Authority: Window washers stuck near 68th floor of One World Trade after apparent cable break - <a href="https://twitter.com/JoshMargolin">@JoshMargolin</a> <a href="http://t.co/F3q6mqVB7f">pic.twitter.com/F3q6mqVB7f</a></p>
— Micah Grimes (@MicahGrimes) <a href="https://twitter.com/MicahGrimes/status/532602903714742273">November 12, 2014</a></blockquote>
<script async="" src="//platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8" type="text/javascript"></script>
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" lang="en">
<p>Manhattan *High Angle Rescue* Box 8084- 1 World Trade Center. Photo By: RavazziArt <a href="http://t.co/emBPBEzr93">pic.twitter.com/emBPBEzr93</a></p>
— NYC Fire Wire (@NYCFireWire) <a href="https://twitter.com/NYCFireWire/status/532593222116474882">November 12, 2014</a></blockquote>
<script async="" src="//platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8" type="text/javascript"></script><p><a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/new-york-city-window-washer-rescue-saved-2014-11#comments">Join the conversation about this story &#187;</a></p> http://www.businessinsider.com/911-memorial-virgil-quote-2014-9A Quote At The 9/11 Memorial Museum Doesn't Really Mean What It Sayshttp://www.businessinsider.com/911-memorial-virgil-quote-2014-9
Thu, 11 Sep 2014 11:58:00 -0400Christina Sterbenz
<p><span style="line-height: 1.5em;"><img src="http://static3.businessinsider.com/image/5411b5c56da8115311a40b9d-1200-600/virgil-quote-national-september-11-memorial-museum.jpg" border="0" alt="Virgil quote National September 11 Memorial Museum"><span style="line-height: 1.5em;">Between where the twin towers of the World Trade Center once stood, a concrete wall now exists.&nbsp;</span></span></p>
<p>The wall, one of the most deeply personal aspects of the <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/911-pictures-memorial-museum-2013-9">9/11 Memorial Museum</a>, separates the public area from a&nbsp;<span style="line-height: 1.5em;"></span><a href="http://www.911memorial.org/remains-repository-world-trade-center-site">repository</a><span style="line-height: 1.5em;"> of nearly 8,000 unidentified human remains. Inscribed on it, visitors will read a line from Virgil's "Aeneid": </span></p>
<p><strong><span style="line-height: 1.5em;">"No day shall erase you from the memory of time."</span></strong></p>
<p>The museum's creators, however, took the line out of context, the The <a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2014/04/03/nyregion/an-inscription-taken-out-of-poetic-context-and-placed-on-a-9-11-memorial.html?hpw&amp;rref=nyregion">New York Times</a>&nbsp;reported in April.&nbsp;<span style="line-height: 1.5em;">"You" doesn't mean thousands of civilians tragically dying, as did the victims during the attacks in 2001. The quote refers to two soldiers — who may have deserved their fates.</span></p>
<p><span style="line-height: 1.5em;">Book IX of the Aeneid (<a href="http://www.poetryintranslation.com/PITBR/Latin/VirgilAeneidIX.htm">translated here</a>), where the quote originates, tells of two Trojans,&nbsp;</span><span style="line-height: 1.5em;">Nisus and Euryalus. They had just ambushed enemy soldiers in their sleep, and for that, the enemy impaled their heads on spears. &nbsp;</span></p>
<p><span style="line-height: 1.5em;">The Times asked half a dozen experts in classical literature about the quotations' use at the memorial site. All but one saw it as troubling.&nbsp;</span></p>
<p><span style="line-height: 1.5em;"><span>“If we take into account its original context, the quotation is more applicable to the aggressors in the 9/11 tragedy than to those honored by the memorial,” </span><a href="http://www.classics.ucsb.edu/morales.php">Helen Morales</a><span>, a classics professor at the University of California at Santa Barbara, told the Times.</span></span></p>
<p><span style="line-height: 1.5em;"><span><span>The National September 11 Memorial and Museum at the World Trade Center Foundation has known about objections to the inscription for years. The staff remains confident.</span></span></span></p>
<p><span style="line-height: 1.5em;"><span><span><img src="http://static2.businessinsider.com/image/5411b7e669bedd592225dd38-1200-924/antennae-world-trade-center-911-memorial.jpg" border="0" alt="antennae World Trade Center 911 Memorial"><br></span></span></span></p>
<p><span style="line-height: 1.5em;"><span><span><span>“In selecting this quote, our focus was not on the specific narrative of the classic story nor its characters. What resonated with us ... was the reference to a single day not being able to erase the memory of those we love," museum director&nbsp;<a href="http://www.911memorial.org/blog/meet-alice-greenwald-911-memorial-museum-director">Alice M. Greenwald</a>&nbsp;told The Times.&nbsp;</span></span></span></span></p>
<p><span style="line-height: 1.5em;"><span><span><span>In an attempt to separate the quote from its original meaning, the foundation removed attribution to the Aeneid in some cases. For example, key chains sold in the shop will only show the quote, according the Times.</span></span></span></span></p>
<p><span style="line-height: 1.5em;"><span><span><span><span>Read the full Times article&nbsp;</span><a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2014/04/03/nyregion/an-inscription-taken-out-of-poetic-context-and-placed-on-a-9-11-memorial.html?hpw&amp;rref=nyregion">here</a><span>.</span></span></span></span></span></p>
<p><span style="line-height: 1.5em;"><span><span>Regardless of the controversy, the National September 11 Memorial Museum <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/r-new-yorks-9/11-museum-to-open-to-the-public-on-may-21-2014-24">opened on May 21 this year</a>. The organization hosted a moment of silence Thursday at 8:46 a.m., exactly when hijacked Flight 11 hit the Norther Tower. An anniversary ceremony followed.</span></span></span></p>
<p><span style="line-height: 1.5em;"><span><span><span>What do you think of the quote? Tell us in the comments section.</span></span></span></span><span style="line-height: 1.5em;">&nbsp;</span></p><p><strong>SEE ALSO:&nbsp;<a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/heres-what-911-was-like-to-the-only-american-watching-from-space-2014-9" >Here's What 9/11 Was Like For The Only American Watching From Space</a></strong></p>
<p><a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/911-memorial-virgil-quote-2014-9#comments">Join the conversation about this story &#187;</a></p> http://www.businessinsider.com/philippe-petit-walked-a-tightrope-between-the-twin-towers-40-years-ago-2014-840 Years Ago, A Frenchman Walked A Tightrope Between New York's Twin Towershttp://www.businessinsider.com/philippe-petit-walked-a-tightrope-between-the-twin-towers-40-years-ago-2014-8
Thu, 07 Aug 2014 10:54:00 -0400Pamela Engel
<p><img src="http://static5.businessinsider.com/image/53e38ef469bedd811fdd5fd6-800-/ap740807051.jpg" border="0" alt="Philippe Petit World Trade Center tight rope walk" width="800"></p><p></p>
<p>Forty years ago on Thursday, a 24-year-old Frenchman captivated the world when he walked across a steel high wire suspended between New York City's Twin Towers.</p>
<p>Philippe Petit, <a href="http://www.telegraph.co.uk/men/the-filter/11017369/Man-on-Wire-the-criminal-artist-who-walked-on-air.html">in an interview with The Telegraph</a>&nbsp;to mark the anniversary of the 1974 stunt, called the performance the highlight of his life.</p>
<p>He first got the idea when he read about the World Trade Center in a magazine at a dentist's office. The towers hadn't been finished yet, and Petit took six and a half years to plan the walk, according to The Telegraph.</p>
<p>The walk was not sanctioned by the city. Petit referred to it as the "artistic crime of the century." He prepared for the walk by practicing tight-rope walking, studying the towers, and finding people who were willing to assist him in his quest.</p>
<p>Petit got to the roof by posing as a French journalist, according to The Telegraph. He persuaded someone inside the towers to forge security passes for him.</p>
<p>The day of the walk, Petit and some assistants hid in the towers and set up the cable before dawn, according to the AP.</p>
<p>The 110-story buildings <a href="http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1157806/Height-madness-The-story-obsessed-daredevil-walked-high-wire-New-Yorks-Twin-Towers.html">were more than a quarter-mile high</a>, and the two buildings were about 200 feet apart. Petit did not use a safety net or harness, according to the Daily Mail.</p>
<p>Petit was arrested when he got off the wire, but his charges were eventually dropped after he agreed to perform for children in Central Park, according to The Telegraph.</p>
<p>Check out the photos from Petit's amazing stunt:</p>
<h2>Petit carried a 26-foot pole to help him keep his balance.</h2>
<p><img src="http://static2.businessinsider.com/image/53e389e069beddcb09dd5fcf-1200-924/philippe-petit-world-trade-center-tight-rope-walk.jpg" border="0" alt="Philippe Petit World Trade Center tight rope walk" width="800"></p>
<h2>Petit crossed the cable multiple times and rested in between.</h2>
<p><img src="http://static2.businessinsider.com/image/53e38abc6bb3f7966edd5fcc-1200-924/philippe-petit-world-trade-center-tight-rope-walk-1.jpg" border="0" alt="Philippe Petit World Trade Center tight rope walk" width="800"></p>
<h2>At one point, he even lay down on the cable.</h2>
<p><img src="http://static4.businessinsider.com/image/53e38b3aecad04fd6cdd5fcd-1200-924/philippe-petit-world-trade-center-tight-rope-walk-2.jpg" border="0" alt="Philippe Petit World Trade Center tight rope walk" width="800"></p>
<h2>The cable was suspended 1,350 feet above the ground.</h2>
<p><img src="http://static2.businessinsider.com/image/53e38c63eab8ea162add5fcd-1200-924/philippe-petit-world-trade-center-tight-rope-walk-3.jpg" border="0" alt="Philippe Petit World Trade Center tight rope walk" width="800"></p>
<h2>The walk was extremely dangerous, and Petit says the "gods were with" him that day.</h2>
<p><img src="http://static3.businessinsider.com/image/53e38cb66da811830dc45626-1200-1500/ap740807097.jpg" border="0" alt="Philippe Petit World Trade Center tight rope walk" width="800"></p>
<p>A movie about the famed tight rope walk, called "The Walk" and starring Joseph Gordon-Levitt, is slated for release in 2015.</p>
<p>The 2008 documentary "Man On Wire" about Petit's walk won an Oscar. Check out the trailer below:</p>
<p><iframe width="640" height="480" frameborder="0" src="//www.youtube.com/embed/EIawNRm9NWM?rel=0"></iframe></p><p><strong>SEE ALSO:&nbsp;<a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/world-trade-center-history-2011-9?op=1#ixzz39iXzd9u6" >Four Decades At The World Trade Center In Pictures</a></strong></p>
<p><a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/philippe-petit-walked-a-tightrope-between-the-twin-towers-40-years-ago-2014-8#comments">Join the conversation about this story &#187;</a></p> http://www.businessinsider.com/ship-found-under-world-trade-center-site-2014-7Ship Found Under World Trade Center Site Is From 1770s Philadelphiahttp://www.businessinsider.com/ship-found-under-world-trade-center-site-2014-7
Wed, 30 Jul 2014 09:53:00 -0400Megan Gannon
<p><img style="float:right;" src="http://static1.businessinsider.com/image/53d8f3b06bb3f74a3b0dc1b3-480-/wtc-5.jpg" border="0" alt="wtc" width="480" /></p><p>In July 2010, amid the gargantuan rebuilding effort at the site of the World Trade Center in Lower Manhattan, construction workers halted the backhoes when they uncovered something unexpected just south of where the Twin Towers once stood.</p>
<p>At 22 feet (6.7 meters) below today's street level, in a pit that would become an underground security and parking complex, excavators found the mangled skeleton of a long-forgotten wooden ship.</p>
<p>Now, a new report finds that&nbsp;<a href="http://www.livescience.com/32443-why-are-tree-rings-lighter-or-darker.html">tree rings</a>&nbsp;in those waterlogged ribs show the vessel was likely built in 1773, or soon after, in a small shipyard near Philadelphia. What's more, the ship was perhaps made from the same kind of white oak trees used to build parts of Independence Hall, where the&nbsp;<a href="http://www.livescience.com/4995-declaration-independence-changed-world.html">Declaration of Independence</a>&nbsp;and&nbsp;U.S. Constitution were signed, according to the study published this month in the journal Tree-Ring Research. [<a href="http://www.livescience.com/47045-photos-shipwreck-under-world-trade-center.html">See Photos of the Ship and Its Tree Rings</a>]</p>
<p>Archaeologists had been on-site throughout the excavation of the World Trade Center's Vehicular Security Center. They had found animal bones, ceramic dishes, bottles, and dozens of shoes, but the excitement really kicked up when the 32-foot-long (9.75 m) partial&nbsp;<a href="http://www.livescience.com/10775-details-18th-century-ground-ship-revealed.html">hull of the ship emerged</a>&nbsp;from the dirt.</p>
<p><img src="http://static4.businessinsider.com/image/53d8f41feab8eab41e51504e-800-600/wtc-oak6-1.jpg" border="0" alt="WTC oak6" width="800" />The vessel was quickly excavated, to prevent damage from exposure to the air. Piece by piece, the delicate oak fragments were documented and taken out of the rotten-smelling mud. The timbers were sent to the Maryland Archaeological Conservation Laboratory, where they would be soaked in water to keep the wood from cracking and warping.</p>
<p>A few timbers were sent back to New York, just 20 miles (32 kilometers) north of the&nbsp;<a href="http://www.livescience.com/41152-one-world-trade-center-worlds-tallest-buildings.html">World Trade Center</a>, to the Tree Ring Laboratory at Columbia University's Lamont-Doherty Earth Observatory in Palisades, New York. Researchers at the lab dried the fragments slowly in a cold room and cut thick slices of the wood to get a clear look at the&nbsp;<a href="http://www.livescience.com/33673-tree-rings-sound-record-player.html">tree rings</a>.</p>
<p>The team established that the trees used to build the ship &mdash; some of which had lived to be more than 100 years old &mdash; were mostly cut down around 1773. Then, to determine where the wood came from, the researchers had to find a match between the ring pattern in the timbers and a ring pattern in live trees and archaeological samples from a specific region.</p>
<p>"What makes the tree-ring patterns in a certain region look very similar, in general, is climate," said the leader of the new study, Dario Martin-Benito, who is now a postdoctoral fellow at the&nbsp;Swiss Federal Institute&nbsp;of Technology (ETH) in Zurich. Regional ring patterns arise from&nbsp;local rain levels and temperatures, with wetter periods producing thicker rings and drier periods producing smaller rings, he said.</p>
<p>Martin-Benito and his colleagues at Columbia's Tree Ring Lab&nbsp;narrowed their search to trees in the eastern United States, thanks to the keel of the ship, which contained hickory, a tree found only in eastern North America and eastern Asia. Otherwise, the researchers would have had much more difficulty in limiting their search, as oak is found all over the world. [<a href="http://www.livescience.com/15492-underwater-shipwrecks-gallery.html">Shipwrecks Gallery: Secrets of the Deep</a>]</p>
<p>The ship's signature pattern most closely matched with the rings found in old living trees and historic wood samples from the Philadelphia area, including a sample taken during an earlier study&nbsp;from Independence Hall, which was built between 1732 and 1756.</p>
<p>"We could see that at that time in Philadelphia, there were still a lot of old-growth forests, and [they were] being logged for shipbuilding and building Independence Hall," Martin-Benito told Live Science. "Philadelphia was one of the most &mdash; if not the most &mdash; important shipbuilding cities in the U.S. at the time. And they had plenty of wood, so it made lots of sense that the wood could come from there."</p>
<p>Historians still aren't certain whether the ship sank accidently or if it was purposely submerged to become part of a landfill used to bulk up Lower Manhattan's coastline. Oysters found fixed to the ship's hull suggest it at least languished in the water for some time before being buried by layers of trash and dirt.</p>
<p>Previous investigations found that the vessel's timbers had been damaged by burrowing holes of&nbsp;<em>Lyrodus pedicellatus</em>, a type of "shipworm" typically found in high-salinity, warm waters &mdash; a sign that the ship, at some point in its life, made a trip to the Caribbean, perhaps on a trading voyage. Martin-Benito speculated that the infestation might have been one of the reasons the ship met its demise just&nbsp;20 or 30 years after it was built.</p>
<p>"I don't know much about the life expectancy for boats, but that doesn't seem like too long for something that would take so long to build," Martin-Benito said.</p>
<p><em>Follow Megan Gannon on&nbsp;</em><a href="https://twitter.com/meganigannon"><em>Twitter</em></a><em>&nbsp;and&nbsp;</em><a href="https://plus.google.com/112479001617280513600/posts"><em>Google+.</em></a>&nbsp;<em>Follow us&nbsp;</em><a href="https://twitter.com/LiveScience"><em>@livescience</em></a><em>,&nbsp;</em><a href="http://www.facebook.com/#!/livescience"><em>Facebook</em></a>&nbsp;<em>&amp;&nbsp;</em><a href="https://plus.google.com/101164570444913213957/posts"><em>Google+</em></a><em>. Original article on&nbsp;</em><em><a href="http://www.livescience.com/47026-origins-world-trade-center-ship.html">Live Science</a>.</em></p>
<ul>
<li><a href="http://www.livescience.com/46339-photos-antikythera-shipwreck-diving-mission.html">In Photos: Mission to 2,000-Year-Old Antikythera Shipwreck</a></li>
<li><a href="http://www.livescience.com/27084-civil-war-shipwreck-uss-monitor.html">Civil War Shipwreck: Photos of the USS Monitor</a></li>
<li><a href="http://www.livescience.com/29594-earths-most-mysterious-archeological-discoveries-.html">The 7 Most Mysterious Archaeological Finds on Earth</a></li>
</ul>
<p><em>Copyright 2014&nbsp;<a href="http://www.livescience.com/">LiveScience</a>, a TechMediaNetwork company. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.</em></p><p><strong>SEE ALSO:&nbsp;<a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/mysteries-science-cannot-explain-phenomena-2014-7" >5 Mysteries That Scientists Still Can't Figure Out</a></strong></p>
<p><a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/ship-found-under-world-trade-center-site-2014-7#comments">Join the conversation about this story &#187;</a></p> http://www.businessinsider.com/911-memorial-inscription-2014-4A Quote At The 9/11 Memorial Museum 'Is More Applicable To The Aggressors' Than The Victimshttp://www.businessinsider.com/911-memorial-inscription-2014-4
Thu, 03 Apr 2014 13:24:00 -0400Christina Sterbenz
<p><img style="float:right;" src="http://static2.businessinsider.com/image/533d9934eab8ea3f0d0c7565-480-360/911-memorial-aenid-quote.jpg" border="0" alt="9/11 memorial aenid quote" /></p><p></p>
<p><span style="line-height: 1.5em;">Between where the twin towers of the World Trade Center once stood, a concrete wall now exists.&nbsp;</span></p>
<p>The wall, one of the most deeply personal aspects of the <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/911-pictures-memorial-museum-2013-9">9/11 Memorial Museum</a>, separates the public area from a&nbsp;<span style="line-height: 1.5em;"></span><a href="http://www.911memorial.org/remains-repository-world-trade-center-site">repository</a><span style="line-height: 1.5em;"> of nearly 8,000 unidentified human remains. Inscribed on it, visitors will read a line from Virgil's "Aeneid": "No day shall erase you from the memory of time."</span></p>
<p>The museum's creators, however, took the line out of context, according to The <a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2014/04/03/nyregion/an-inscription-taken-out-of-poetic-context-and-placed-on-a-9-11-memorial.html?hpw&amp;rref=nyregion">New York Times</a>.&nbsp;<span style="line-height: 1.5em;">"You" doesn't mean thousands of civilians perishing tragically, as did the victims during the attacks in 2001. It refers to two soldiers &mdash; who may have deserved their fates.</span></p>
<p><span style="line-height: 1.5em;">Book IX of the Aeneid (<a href="http://www.poetryintranslation.com/PITBR/Latin/VirgilAeneidIX.htm">translated here</a>), where the quote originates, tells of two Trojans,&nbsp;</span><span style="line-height: 1.5em;">Nisus and Euryalus. They had just ambushed enemy soldiers in their sleep, and for that, the enemy impaled their heads on spears. &nbsp;</span></p>
<p><span style="line-height: 1.5em;">The Times asked half a dozen experts in classical literature about the quotations' use at the memorial site. All but one saw it as troubling.&nbsp;</span></p>
<p><span style="line-height: 1.5em;"><span>&ldquo;If we take into account its original context, the quotation is more applicable to the aggressors in the 9/11 tragedy than to those honored by the memorial,&rdquo; </span><a href="http://www.classics.ucsb.edu/morales.php">Helen Morales</a><span>, a classics professor at the University of California at Santa Barbara, told the Times.</span></span></p>
<p><span style="line-height: 1.5em;"><span><span>The National September 11 Memorial and Museum at the World Trade Center Foundation has known about objections to the inscription for years. The staff remains confident.</span></span></span></p>
<p><span style="line-height: 1.5em;"><span><span><span>&ldquo;In selecting this quote, our focus was not on the specific narrative of the classic story nor its characters. What resonated with us ... was the reference to a single day not being able to erase the memory of those we love," museum director&nbsp;<a href="http://www.911memorial.org/blog/meet-alice-greenwald-911-memorial-museum-director">Alice M. Greenwald</a>&nbsp;told The Times.&nbsp;</span></span></span></span></p>
<p><span style="line-height: 1.5em;"><span><span><span>In an attempt to separate the quote from its original meaning, the foundation removed attribution to the Aeneid in some cases. For example, key chains sold in the shop will only show the quote, according the Times.</span></span></span></span></p>
<p><span style="line-height: 1.5em;"><span><span>Regardless of the controversy, the National September 11 Memorial Museum <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/r-new-yorks-9/11-museum-to-open-to-the-public-on-may-21-2014-24">will open on May 21 this year</a>.&nbsp;</span></span></span></p>
<p><span style="line-height: 1.5em;"><span><span>Read the full Times article <a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2014/04/03/nyregion/an-inscription-taken-out-of-poetic-context-and-placed-on-a-9-11-memorial.html?hpw&amp;rref=nyregion">here</a>.</span></span></span></p>
<p><span style="line-height: 1.5em;"><span><span><span>What do you think of the quotation? Tell us in the comments section.</span></span></span></span></p><p><a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/911-memorial-inscription-2014-4#comments">Join the conversation about this story &#187;</a></p> http://www.thewire.com/national/2014/03/cnn-producers-reporting-on-break-in-at-wtc-arrested-for-breaking-into-wtc/359608/CNN Producers Arrested For Trying To Break Into World Trade Centerhttp://www.thewire.com/national/2014/03/cnn-producers-reporting-on-break-in-at-wtc-arrested-for-breaking-into-wtc/359608/
Wed, 26 Mar 2014 09:14:00 -0400DANIELLE WIENER-BRONNER
<p><img style="float:right;" src="http://static6.businessinsider.com/image/5332d17feab8ea9411147c4d-480-/ap141920145418.jpg" border="0" alt="CNN producers arrested" width="480" /></p><p>Two CNN producers&nbsp;<a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2014/03/26/nyregion/2-cnn-producers-are-held-in-trespass-at-world-trade-center.html?partner=rss&amp;emc=rss&amp;_r=0">were arrested</a>&nbsp;after trying to breach security at the World Trade Center building site, failing where one 16-year-old, three parachutists, and their lookout had previously succeeded.&nbsp;</p>
<p>Yonatan Pomrenze, 35, and Connor Fieldman Boals, 26, face charges of trespassing, disorderly conduct and obstruction of governmental administration. The two were spotted repeatedly trying to enter the off-limits premises in the middle of the day, video camera, tripod and&nbsp;<a href="http://www.reuters.com/article/2014/03/25/us-usa-new-york-wtc-idUSBREA2O22U20140325">strap-on camera in tow</a>. The two appeared to be chasing a story &mdash; check out how easy it is to break into the WTC! &mdash; when they were stopped by authorities and nabbed.&nbsp;<a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2014/03/26/nyregion/2-cnn-producers-are-held-in-trespass-at-world-trade-center.html?partner=rss&amp;emc=rss&amp;_r=0">The&nbsp;New York Times&nbsp;reports</a>:</p>
<p style="padding-left: 30px;">The men first tried going through a gate at Vesey and Washington Streets, where they were stopped by a Port Authority Police Department officer.</p>
<p>When they were stopped by police,&nbsp;<a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2014/03/26/nyregion/2-cnn-producers-are-held-in-trespass-at-world-trade-center.html?partner=rss&amp;emc=rss&amp;_r=0">they made their pitch</a>:</p>
<p style="padding-left: 30px;">[Port Authority spokesman Joseph] Pentangelo said the men explained to the officer, in effect, that &ldquo;if a 16-year-old could get on the site, they should also be able to get in.</p>
<p>And&nbsp;<a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2014/03/26/nyregion/2-cnn-producers-are-held-in-trespass-at-world-trade-center.html?partner=rss&amp;emc=rss&amp;_r=0">persevered on</a>, as dogged journalists must:</p>
<p style="padding-left: 30px;">The men then continued along Vesey Street where a police officer observed Mr. Boals twice trying to climb the fence, Mr. Pentangelo said. &ldquo;He&rsquo;s then told to stop doing that,&rdquo; he said.</p>
<p><a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2014/03/26/nyregion/2-cnn-producers-are-held-in-trespass-at-world-trade-center.html?partner=rss&amp;emc=rss&amp;_r=0">But eventually were caught</a>, perhaps showing that the conceit of their piece was off-base:</p>
<p style="padding-left: 30px;">They were arrested at 2:08 p.m., at an electronic gate at Vesey and Church Streets, he said.&nbsp;&ldquo;There&rsquo;s a sign that says no trespassing and there&rsquo;s a manifest that says who is allowed in there,&rdquo; Mr. Pentangelo said. &ldquo;It&rsquo;s clearly marked.&rdquo;</p>
<p data-para-count="296" data-total-count="1479"><img src="http://static2.businessinsider.com/image/5332d1fd6da8118d1bed8026-1200-924/world-trade-center-7.jpg" border="0" alt="World Trade Center" width="800" /></p>
<p data-para-count="296" data-total-count="1479">CNN&nbsp;<a href="http://www.nydailynews.com/blogs/theshack/2014/03/cnn-employees-charged-with-trying-to-breach-wtc-site-security-0">quickly distanced itself from the incident</a>, saying the two had been "in the surrounding area to do a story about the recent incidents at the W.T.C. and other sites &mdash; and the notion that daredevils are being drawn to them," but not to explicitly break the law.</p>
<p data-para-count="296" data-total-count="1479">The CNN crew was obviously inspired by the viral video that came out this week of&nbsp;three BASE jumpers&nbsp;<a href="http://www.thewire.com/national/2014/03/heres-helmetcam-footage-of-an-insane-person-skydiving-from-one-world-trade-center/359517/">leaping from the top of the 104-story tower at 1 World Trade Center</a>&nbsp;in the middle of the night. That also followed another&nbsp;disturbing report of dismal security on the WTC site, after a New Jersey teenager&nbsp;<a href="http://www.nbcnewyork.com/news/local/Teenager-Climbs-World-Trade-Center-Spire-Security-Photos-Trespass-Freedom-Tower-251176781.html">climbed to the top</a>&nbsp;of the same&nbsp;building last week.&nbsp;<a href="http://www.cnn.com/2014/03/25/justice/one-world-trade-center-jump-stunt/">They have all been arrested</a>. The BASE jumpers and their accomplice even turned themselves in willingly.</p>
<p data-para-count="296" data-total-count="1479">Hopefully, the arrest on this latest stunt means that security has been ramped up at the WTC site. But unlike the CNN producers, the trespassers who got away with snuck onto the grounds under the cover of darkness instead of right after lunch. Which apparently is not the best time to try to break into a construction site.</p><p><a href="http://www.thewire.com/national/2014/03/cnn-producers-reporting-on-break-in-at-wtc-arrested-for-breaking-into-wtc/359608/#comments">Join the conversation about this story &#187;</a></p> http://www.businessinsider.com/r-cnn-journalists-arrested-trying-to-sneak-into-world-trade-center-2014-25Two CNN Producers Arrested Trying To Sneak Into World Trade Center Sitehttp://www.businessinsider.com/r-cnn-journalists-arrested-trying-to-sneak-into-world-trade-center-2014-25
Tue, 25 Mar 2014 19:23:00 -0400Jonathan Allen
<p><span style="line-height: 1.5em;"><img style="float:right;" src="http://static3.businessinsider.com/image/532b00ac6da8117a7f599884-480-/one-world-trade-center-11.jpg" border="0" alt="one world trade center" width="480" />NEW YORK (Reuters) - Two CNN journalists were arrested for trying to sneak past security at the World Trade Center in New York City on Tuesday in an attempt to report on recent security lapses at the site, police said.</span></p>
<p>Yon Pomrenze, 35, and Connor Fieldman Boals, 26, first tried to talk their way in through the main gate to the center in lower Manhattan, much of which is still a construction site, according to the police account. One was holding a video camera, the other had a video camera strapped to his head.</p>
<p>Foiled, Boals then twice tried to climb over the perimeter fence. That did not work either.</p>
<p>A few minutes later, the men were attempting to force their way through an electronic gate about a block away when police arrested them.</p>
<p>The two men, identified as CNN producers, were filming a report on recent security breaches at the World Trade Center, a spokeswoman for the news network said.</p>
<p>The Port Authority has spent millions of dollars on security measures for the World Trade Center, which is due to open later this year on the site of the Twin Towers that were destroyed by Al Qaeda hijackers on September 11, 2001.</p>
<p>Four men were arrested on Monday for organizing a late-night parachute jump from the top of One World Trade Center, the tallest structure in the United States, after sneaking through a hole in a fence in September.</p>
<p>And a 16-year-boy with a camera was arrested a few days earlier after evading capture by security staff at night and getting to the skyscraper's 104th floor.</p>
<p>On Tuesday afternoon, the two CNN producers had said to the officer at the main gate that if a 16-year-old was able to get in, then so should they, said Joseph Pentangelo, a spokesman for the Port Authority Police Department.</p>
<p>"He had enough sense to try it at 4 o'clock in the morning," he said of the 16-year-old. The CNN producers commenced their less successful attempt shortly after lunchtime on Tuesday.</p>
<p>"This is very wasteful of valuable law-enforcement time and energy," Pentagelo said.</p>
<p>The men were arrested on charges of criminal trespass, obstruction of governmental administration and disorderly conduct, police said.</p>
<p>Barbara Levin, a CNN spokeswoman, said in an email the two producers were on assignment but "were not asked to sneak onto the WTC site."</p>
<p>"They were in the surrounding area to do a story about the recent incidents at the WTC and other sites," she wrote, "and the notion that daredevils are being drawn to them."</p>
<p>It was not immediately clear if the men had lawyers on Tuesday.</p>
<p>(Reporting By Jonathan Allen; editing by Andrew Hay)</p><p><a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/r-cnn-journalists-arrested-trying-to-sneak-into-world-trade-center-2014-25#comments">Join the conversation about this story &#187;</a></p> http://www.businessinsider.com/helmet-cam-captures-skydivers-insane-leap-from-the-top-of-1-world-trade-2014-3This Helmet-Cam Footage From A Guy's Jump Off 1 World Trade Is The Most Insane Thing You Will See All Dayhttp://www.businessinsider.com/helmet-cam-captures-skydivers-insane-leap-from-the-top-of-1-world-trade-2014-3
Tue, 25 Mar 2014 07:46:00 -0400Caroline Moss
<p id="paragraph1">On Sept. 30, 2013, four BASE jumpers took to the peak of 1 World Trade Center and leaped off the building, flying over some of the city before pulling parachutes and landing in the streets of Manhattan.</p>
<p>Now Andrew Rossig, James Brady, <span>Marko Markovich, and Kyle Hartwell&nbsp;</span>are facing charges including burglary, <a href="http://www.nbcnewyork.com/news/local/Parachuters-World-Trade-Center-Arrest.html">reports NBC New York.</a>&nbsp;</p>
<p>Helmet-cam <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nz7sxt9xeJE#t=123">footage of the jump</a> was posted to YouTube yesterday.&nbsp;</p>
<p>Here's one of the men right as he jumps off 1 World Trade:</p>
<p><img src="http://static1.businessinsider.com/image/5331693069bedd484920366d/1wt jump.gif" border="0" alt="1WT Jump" /></p>
<p>Helmet cams captured the view of the city from the perspective of the jumpers:</p>
<p><img src="http://static5.businessinsider.com/image/5331699deab8eab33ef511a1/1wt2.gif" border="0" alt="1WT2" /></p>
<p>And you can see what it looks like to land:</p>
<p><img src="http://static1.businessinsider.com/image/533169fa6bb3f70638c6830c/1wt3.gif" border="0" alt="1WT3" /></p>
<p><a href="&lt;iframe%20width=&quot;560&quot;%20height=&quot;315&quot;%20src=&quot;//www.youtube.com/embed/nz7sxt9xeJE&quot;%20frameborder=&quot;0&quot;%20allowfullscreen&gt;&lt;/iframe&gt;">Here's the full video:<span style="font-size: 15px; line-height: 1.5em;">&nbsp;</span></a></p>
<p><iframe width="800" height="600" frameborder="0" src="//www.youtube.com/embed/nz7sxt9xeJE"></iframe></p><p><a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/helmet-cam-captures-skydivers-insane-leap-from-the-top-of-1-world-trade-2014-3#comments">Join the conversation about this story &#187;</a></p> http://www.businessinsider.com/the-first-world-trade-center-tower-since-911-opens-today-2013-11The First World Trade Center Tower At Ground Zero Since 9/11 Opens Todayhttp://www.businessinsider.com/the-first-world-trade-center-tower-since-911-opens-today-2013-11
Wed, 13 Nov 2013 06:20:00 -0500Hilary Russ, Reuters
<p><img style="float:right;" src="http://static6.businessinsider.com/image/52835f446da8110b26f11fb2-1200-924/one-world-trade-center-9.jpg" border="0" alt="one world trade center" /></p><p>NEW YORK&nbsp;(Reuters) - The first office tower at Ground Zero since the September 11, 2001 attacks that destroyed the&nbsp;World Trade Center&nbsp;will open on Wednesday, marking a comeback for the Lower Manhattan site.</p>
<p>Sheathed in glass, 4&nbsp;World Trade Center&nbsp;is the smallest of the four main towers on the site where 2,700 people died when hijacked airplanes crashed into the towers.</p>
<p>It stands 977 feet tall - a shorter, simpler version of One&nbsp;World Trade Center, which will not be completed until early 2014.</p>
<p>The 72-story building stands empty at the moment, although two government agencies have signed leases for half of the building's space. Both the&nbsp;Port Authority of New York and New Jersey, which owns the site, and the city of&nbsp;New York&nbsp;committed to the space years ago to help jump start rebuilding efforts.</p>
<p>Since the attacks, disagreements among&nbsp;New York&nbsp;City, the state, the&nbsp;federal government, developers, insurers, victims' families and others have slowed construction on the 16-acre site.</p>
<p>Developer&nbsp;Larry Silverstein, who held the lease to the site when it was attacked in 2001, has played a key role in shaping the project's design, security and cost.</p>
<p>"The world is recognizing that we've moved from 12 years of controversy and construction to having a real place that is coming back to life as a part of&nbsp;New York&nbsp;City," said&nbsp;Janno Lieber, who oversees planning, design and rebuilding for Silverstein Properties.</p>
<p>Silverstein spokesman&nbsp;Dara McQuillan&nbsp;said the developer was not troubled that the 2.3 million-square-foot building is only half leased.</p>
<p>In 2006, Silverstein opened 7&nbsp;World Trade Center, just north of Ground Zero, and the company was the only tenant in the building. But by 2011, it was fully leased with such tenants as Moody's Corp and&nbsp;Mansueto Ventures, which publishes&nbsp;Fast Company&nbsp;and Inc. magazines.</p>
<p>"We learned at 7&nbsp;World Trade Center&nbsp;that when you build state-of-the-art, green, high-tech office buildings, they lease quickly," McQuillan said.</p>
<p>Commercial real estate in downtown Manhattan rents for about $47 per square foot, about 35 percent less than rents in midtown Manhattan, according to commercial real estate services firm CBRE Group.</p>
<p>The skyscraper cost about $2 billion to build, including land lease costs, and was financed with $1.2 billion of tax-free Liberty Bonds and hard-won insurance proceeds.</p>
<p>On Monday, a council of urban designers decided that One&nbsp;World Trade Center, which is being built by&nbsp;Douglas Durst&nbsp;and the&nbsp;Port Authority, would be the tallest building in the&nbsp;United States.</p>
<p>They voted to count its spire in the total height of the building, which will reach 1,776 feet, a number chosen for the year the U.S. Declaration of Independence was signed. The spire on the original twin towers reached 1,727 feet and the&nbsp;Empire State Building's antenna spire reaches 1,454 feet.</p>
<p>A 9/11 museum is expected to open at the site in the next year. A transportation hub, designed by Spanish architect&nbsp;Santiago Calatrava, is scheduled to open in 2015.</p>
<p>The site will include two more office towers and some 550,000 square feet of retail space. Architect&nbsp;Frank Gehry, most famous for designing the contemporary&nbsp;Guggenheim Museum&nbsp;in&nbsp;Spain, has planned a performing arts center for the building.</p>
<p>(Reporting by Hilary Russ; Editing by Ellen Wulfhorst and Lisa Shumaker)</p><p><a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/the-first-world-trade-center-tower-since-911-opens-today-2013-11#comments">Join the conversation about this story &#187;</a></p> http://www.businessinsider.com/one-world-trade-center-officially-tallest-building-in-america-2013-11IT'S OFFICIAL: One World Trade Center Is America's Tallest Building At 1,776 Feethttp://www.businessinsider.com/one-world-trade-center-officially-tallest-building-in-america-2013-11
Tue, 12 Nov 2013 11:10:00 -0500Julie Zeveloff
<p><img style="float:right;" src="http://static2.businessinsider.com/image/523084b769beddda38a48e89-480-/one_world_trade.jpg" border="0" alt="one world trade center" width="480" /></p><p>The <a href="http://www.ctbuh.org/LinkClick.aspx?fileticket=TEhukNqIliM%3d&amp;tabid=53&amp;language=en-US">Council on Tall Buildings and Urban Habitat</a> has officially declared New York City's One World Trade Center the tallest building in the U.S., at 1,776 feet.</p>
<p>The committee is the go-to body for determining building heights around the globe.</p>
<p><a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/its-still-unclear-if-one-world-trade-center-is-americas-tallest-tower-2013-10">At issue was One WTC's 408-foot spire</a>, and whether it could be considered part of the building's total height.</p>
<p><a href="http://www.usatoday.com/story/news/nation/2013/11/12/world-trade-center-tower-willis-tower-largest-us-building/3504515/">USA Today explained</a>:</p>
<p style="padding-left: 30px;">The committee has been weighing whether a design change means that the needle atop 1 World Trade Center is part of the actual building or merely the equivalent of a broadcast antenna.</p>
<p style="padding-left: 30px;">...</p>
<p style="padding-left: 30px;"><span style="line-height: 1.5em;">Under the council's criteria, spires that are an integral part of a building's aesthetic design count; broadcast antennas that can be added and removed do not.</span></p>
<p>The committee, which announced its determination Tuesday morning in Chicago, concluded that the spire&nbsp;was technically a permanent part of the tower.</p>
<p>&ldquo;We were very satisfied with the detailed information presented by the team, in particular, that which affirmed that the structure on top of the building is meant as a permanent architectural feature, not a piece of functional-technical equipment,&rdquo; Timothy Johnson, Chairman of CTBUH and Design Partner at NBBJ, said in a press release.</p>
<p>At a symbolic 1,776 feet, One World Trade is now taller than Chicago's Willis Tower, which stands at 1,451 feet, <a href="http://abcnews.go.com/US/wireStory/committee-ny-tower-tallest-building-20859063">according to The AP</a>.&nbsp;</p>
<p>Upon its completion in early 2014, One World Trade will likely be the third-tallest building in the world, behind the 2,717-foot-tall Burj Khalifa in Dubai and the Makkah Royal Clock Tower in Mecca, Saudi Arabia.</p>
<p><img src="http://static4.businessinsider.com/image/528257e9ecad040a7b9f9e93-1200-800/worldtallest_onewtc_(c)ctbuh.jpg" border="0" alt="WorldTallest_OneWTC_(c)CTBUH" width="800" /></p><p><strong>SEE ALSO:&nbsp;<a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/worlds-tallest-buildings-2013-5" >How One World Trade Compares To The World's Tallest Buildings</a></strong></p>
<p><a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/one-world-trade-center-officially-tallest-building-in-america-2013-11#comments">Join the conversation about this story &#187;</a></p> http://www.businessinsider.com/its-still-unclear-if-one-world-trade-center-is-americas-tallest-tower-2013-10It's Still Unclear If One World Trade Center Is America's Tallest Towerhttp://www.businessinsider.com/its-still-unclear-if-one-world-trade-center-is-americas-tallest-tower-2013-10
Tue, 22 Oct 2013 17:09:00 -0400Hiten Samtani
<p><img style="float:right;" src="http://static5.businessinsider.com/image/5266e927eab8ea5f1af2845a-480-/one-world-trade-center-8.jpg" border="0" alt="one world trade center" width="480" /></p><p>The Durst Organization will find out early next month whether their mammoth One World Trade Center project is in fact, technically, the country&rsquo;s tallest tower.</p>
<p>The Council on Tall Buildings and Urban Habitat, a nonprofit that is the industry&rsquo;s go-to source for determining skyscraper height, will determine the height of the&nbsp;<a href="http://therealdeal.com/issues_articles/tallying-the-biggest-new-buildings-in-the-u-s/" target="_blank">building that its developers (Durst and the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey) say soars to 1,776 feet</a>.<span id="more-298644"></span></p>
<p>But it is still up in the air whether the council will rule that One World Trade&rsquo;s 408-foot steel mast can be considered a &ldquo;spire,&rdquo; and thus a part of the building&rsquo;s architecture that counts toward its height, the Wall Street Journal reported.</p>
<p>If it isn&rsquo;t considered a spire, One World Trade will have an official height of only 1,368 feet, still a ways away from the current top dog, the 1,451-foot Willis Tower, in Chicago, according to the newspaper.</p>
<p>&ldquo;We are caught between a hard rock and a stone,&rdquo; Antony Wood, the council&rsquo;s executive director, wrote to Douglas Durst last month, according to the Journal.</p>
<p>A Durst organization spokesperson told the newspaper that there isn&rsquo;t room for debate about the tower&rsquo;s height.</p>
<p>&ldquo;Logic and their guidelines dictate clearly that the building is 1,776 feet tall,&rdquo; spokesperson Jordan Barowitz said.&nbsp;<a href="http://online.wsj.com/news/articles/SB10001424052702303672404579149684278467204" target="_blank">[WSJ]</a></p><p><a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/its-still-unclear-if-one-world-trade-center-is-americas-tallest-tower-2013-10#comments">Join the conversation about this story &#187;</a></p> http://www.businessinsider.com/banksy-pays-homage-to-the-twin-towers-2013-10Banksy Pays Homage To The Twin Towers In Today's Artworkhttp://www.businessinsider.com/banksy-pays-homage-to-the-twin-towers-2013-10
Tue, 15 Oct 2013 11:46:00 -0400Julie Zeveloff
<p>Street artist Banksy paid homage to the World Trade Center and 9/11 in today's installation of his month-long series, "<a href="http://www.banksy.co.uk/2013/10/15/tribecca">Better Out Than In</a>."</p>
<p>A silhouette of the Twin Towers and the New York City skyline appear on a Tribeca building, along with a single flower. From the <a href="http://www.banksy.co.uk/2013/10/15/tribecca">artist's website</a>:</p>
<p><img src="http://static4.businessinsider.com/image/525d62f1eab8eaf12a890bb0-778-490/tribecca_full_new-private.jpg" border="0" alt="banksy twin towers" /></p>
<p>Here's a closer look:</p>
<p><img src="http://static5.businessinsider.com/image/525d62f36bb3f791081e39ab-778-592/day-15-detail-sized-private.jpg" border="0" alt="banksy twin towers" /></p>
<p>If you know the exact location of the work, please send us an email and photo at thelife@businessinsider.com.</p>
<p>The work marks the halfway point in Banky's "artists residency" in New York City. Past works have included a <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/banksy-quotes-gladiator-in-his-latest-mural-2013-10">mural quoting "Gladiator,</a>"&nbsp;&nbsp;a <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/banksy-truck-filled-with-stuffed-animals-2013-10">slaughterhouse delivery truck</a> filled with squealing stuffed animals, and an <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/banksy-video-rebels-shoot-dumbo-flying-elephant-2013-10">animated film featuring Islamist rebels and Dumbo the Flying Elephant</a>.</p>
<p><a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/category/banksy-ny"><strong>You can see all the past works in the series here.</strong></a></p><p><strong>SEE ALSO:&nbsp;<a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/best-banksy-works-2013-10" >The Most Iconic Banksy Works Of All Time</a></strong></p>
<p><a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/banksy-pays-homage-to-the-twin-towers-2013-10#comments">Join the conversation about this story &#187;</a></p> http://www.businessinsider.com/one-world-trade-center-at-1776-feet-2013-912 Years After 9/11, One World Trade Center Stands At A Symbolic 1,776 Feethttp://www.businessinsider.com/one-world-trade-center-at-1776-feet-2013-9
Wed, 11 Sep 2013 10:46:00 -0400Will Wei and Julie Zeveloff
<p><span style="line-height: 1.5em;"><img src="http://static4.businessinsider.com/image/aa37544b5723e64933c25d00-0-0/beige_tbi.jpg" border="0" alt="beige tbi" width="0" height="0" />The final piece of&nbsp;One World Trade Center&nbsp;was&nbsp;</span><a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/live-watch-as-the-spire-is-placed-on-top-of-one-world-trade-center-2013-5">lifted into place</a><span style="line-height: 1.5em;">&nbsp;earlier this year, making it the&nbsp;</span><a href="http://www.nbcnews.com/travel/tallest-building-west-symbolic-one-world-trade-center-aspires-spire-6C9674114">tallest building in the Western Hemisphere</a><span style="line-height: 1.5em;">&nbsp;at a symbolic 1,776 feet.</span></p>
<p>It's the first time the skyscraper at Ground Zero has stood at full height on the anniversary of September 11.</p>
<p>The 104-story tower is scheduled to be completed in early 2014, <a href="http://nypost.com/2013/09/09/developers-promise-to-finish-new-wtc-in-early-2014/">according to the Associated Press</a>. Its anchor tenant will be publisher Conde Nast.</p>
<p>In addition to the skyscraper, formerly known as the "Freedom Tower," the World Trade Center will be home to three other office buildings, including the new home of the Port Authority.&nbsp;</p>
<p>Nearly 10 million people have visited the 8-acre Memorial Plaza, built in the footprint of the World Trade Center, since it opened two years ago. The <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/911-pictures-memorial-museum-2013-9">artifact-filled 9/11 Memorial Museum is scheduled to open</a> in the spring of 2014.</p>
<p>Thousands of people watched as the spire of One World Trade Center was lifted into place in early May. The Port Authority of NY &amp; NJ mounted a GoPro camera on the spire as it was being raised, capturing some incredible footage:</p>
<p><img src="http://static4.businessinsider.com/~~/f?id=5192a8e7ecad04a10d000014" border="0" alt="wtc-spire-gif-gopro-5.gif" title="wtc-spire-gif-gopro-5.gif" width="600" height="338" /></p>
<p><span style="line-height: 1.5em;">Take a look at the entire video taken by The Port Authority of NY &amp; NJ below:</span></p>
<p><iframe width="618" height="348" frameborder="0" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/4ZIKhS1ch8I"></iframe></p><p><strong>SEE ALSO:&nbsp;<a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/911-pictures-memorial-museum-2013-9" >Here Are Some Of The Poignant Artifacts You'll See At The New 9/11 Memorial Museum</a></strong></p>
<p><a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/one-world-trade-center-at-1776-feet-2013-9#comments">Join the conversation about this story &#187;</a></p> http://www.businessinsider.com/world-trade-center-lawsuit-2013-7Judge To Rule Whether World Trade Center Owner Can Seek Damages For 9/11 Plane Crasheshttp://www.businessinsider.com/world-trade-center-lawsuit-2013-7
Tue, 16 Jul 2013 19:15:38 -0400Agence France Presse
<p><img style="float:right;" src="http://static5.businessinsider.com/image/50490a96eab8ea1d31000006-800-/september_11_photo_montage.jpg" border="0" alt="World Trade Center Sept. 11" width="800" /></p><p>A US judge is expected to rule this week on whether the owner of the World Trade Center can seek multi-billion dollar damages from the airlines whose planes crashed into into the Twin Towers on September 11, 2001, court officials said Tuesday.</p>
<p>District Judge Alvin Hellerstein, who has taken charge of most of the legal cases arising from the 9/11 attacks, has to decide whether World Trade Center Properties can pursue the owners of United Airlines and American Airlines for compensation on top of the four billion dollars the company has already collected from its own insurers.</p>
<p>Lawyers for the airlines argue that WTC Properties' insurers have already covered the same losses the company, owned by developer Larry Silverstein, is seeking to recover from them.</p>
<p>The judge has to decide whether any losses that could be ascribed to the airlines are in a different category to those that have already been covered.</p>
<p>If he does, Silverstein will then have to initiate separate proceedings aimed at proving that the airlines were liable for their planes being hijacked -- a case which would effectively put the whole pre 9/11 aviation security system on trial.</p>
<p>Hellerstein had originally anticipated the trial concluding on Wednesday and had indicated that he would deliver a ruling immediately after hearing concluding arguments. But court officials said Tuesday that the hearing was likely to run into Thursday at least.</p>
<div class="nc_footer">
<p>Copyright (2013) AFP. All rights reserved.<img class="nc_pixel" src="http://pixel.newscred.com/px.gif?key=YXJ0aWNsZT0yZjlmM2NjZDg0ZTY2YjFmYTMzMzAyODFjZjc4NjU3OCZvd25lcj0xYjhjMzM1YzkwMmFjNGFiMTI4ZWU4ZWQ3NzNiZWUwNCZub25jZT02NzgyMmU4Ni0xYzYxLTRmOTItOWNlZC0xN2ZmMDE0MzM4NWMmcHVibGlzaGVyPThjMDBmYmVlNjFkNWJjZjBjNjA5MmQ4YjkyZWJiY2Ex" border="0" alt="" width="1" height="1" style="font-size: 15px; line-height: 1.5em;" /></p>
</div><p><a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/world-trade-center-lawsuit-2013-7#comments">Join the conversation about this story &#187;</a></p> http://www.businessinsider.com/world-trade-center-spire-going-up-2013-5Dizzying GIF Of The World Trade Center Spire Being Lifted Into Placehttp://www.businessinsider.com/world-trade-center-spire-going-up-2013-5
Tue, 14 May 2013 16:01:00 -0400Will Wei
<p><span style="line-height: 1.5em;">The final piece of&nbsp;One World Trade Center&nbsp;was&nbsp;</span><a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/live-watch-as-the-spire-is-placed-on-top-of-one-world-trade-center-2013-5">lifted into place</a><span style="line-height: 1.5em;">&nbsp;earlier this month &ndash; making it the&nbsp;</span><a href="http://www.nbcnews.com/travel/tallest-building-west-symbolic-one-world-trade-center-aspires-spire-6C9674114">tallest building in the Western Hemisphere</a><span style="line-height: 1.5em;">&nbsp;at a symbolic 1,776 feet.</span></p>
<p>One of the coolest things from this historical event is this footage taken on a GoPro camera mounted on the spire as it was being raised.<img src="http://static4.businessinsider.com/image/aa37544b5723e64933c25d00-0-0/beige_tbi.jpg" border="0" alt="beige tbi" width="0" height="0" /></p>
<p><img src="http://static4.businessinsider.com/~~/f?id=5192a8e7ecad04a10d000014" border="0" alt="wtc-spire-gif-gopro-5.gif" title="wtc-spire-gif-gopro-5.gif" width="600" height="338" /></p>
<p><span style="line-height: 1.5em;">Take a look at the entire video taken by The Port Authority of NY &amp; NJ below:</span></p>
<p><iframe width="618" height="348" frameborder="0" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/4ZIKhS1ch8I"></iframe></p><p><strong>SEE ALSO:&nbsp;<a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/how-second-sights-bionic-eye-works-2013-5" >Here's How The First FDA-Approved Bionic Eye Works</a></strong></p>
<p><a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/world-trade-center-spire-going-up-2013-5#comments">Join the conversation about this story &#187;</a></p> http://www.businessinsider.com/the-world-trade-center-is-having-a-tough-time-finding-tenants-2013-5The World Trade Center Is Having A Tough Time Finding Tenantshttp://www.businessinsider.com/the-world-trade-center-is-having-a-tough-time-finding-tenants-2013-5
Mon, 13 May 2013 14:57:00 -0400Hiten Samtani
<p><img style="float:right;" src="http://static2.businessinsider.com/image/51801e64ecad04dd0e000008-400-/one-world-trade-center-2.jpg" border="0" alt="One World Trade Center" width="400" /></p><p>The three buildings at the World Trade Center site have massive vacancies, and with over 5 million square feet of space in the complex on or due to hit the market, landlords are racing to secure tenants at the $14 billion development, Crain&rsquo;s reported.<span id="more-243948"></span></p>
<p>No office lease has been signed at the site since publishing giant Cond&eacute; Nast took 1.2 million square feet at 1 World Trade Center two years ago. At the time, the deal was hailed as a sign of the area&rsquo;s hot office prospects, but the site has since been unable to compete.</p>
<p><a class="hidden_link" href="http://www.businessinsider.com/blackboard/time-warner">Time Warner</a>, the biggest tenant currently shopping for Manhattan space,&nbsp;<a href="http://therealdeal.com/blog/2013/05/09/time-warner-leaning-toward-hudson-yards/" target="_blank">has set its sights on Hudson Yards</a>, and has already spoken with several developers to ink a potentially 1.3 million-square-foot deal.</p>
<p>And Jones Day, which many real estate players believed would become the anchor tenant at the stillborn 3 World Trade Center, is instead close to a 400,000-square-foot-deal at nearby Brookfield Place.</p>
<p>&ldquo;It&rsquo;s definitely disappointing,&rdquo; Christopher Ward, former executive director of the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey, which owns the World Trade Center site, told Crain&rsquo;s. &ldquo;Jones Day should have been the deal that 3 World Trade Center landed.&rdquo;</p>
<p>The situation has led to a duel between developers to lock in tenants.</p>
<p>&ldquo;There&rsquo;s only one 1 World Trade Center,&rdquo; Douglas Durst, chief executive of the Durst Organization, which co-owns the 3.5 million-square-foot tower with the Port Authority, told the Journal. &ldquo;Those who want to be in the best building will come here.&rdquo;</p>
<p>But Silverstein Properties, which is behind the 75-story, 2.5 million-square-foot 4 WTC, is confident that the building would be a better bet. &ldquo;We have a building that&rsquo;s going to feel like a tower on Park Avenue,&rdquo; Janno Lieber, president of Silverstein&rsquo;s World Trade Center Properties, told Crain&rsquo;s.&nbsp;<a href="http://www.crainsnewyork.com/article/20130512/REAL_ESTATE/305129977" target="_blank">[Crain&rsquo;s]</a></p>
<p><em>More from The Real Deal:</em></p>
<p style="padding-left: 30px;"><em>1.&nbsp;<a href="http://therealdeal.com/blog/2013/05/10/steve-witkoff-revealed-as-friend-of-indicted-russian-mobster/" target="_blank">Steve Witkoff revealed as &ldquo;friend&rdquo; of indicted Russian mobster&nbsp;</a></em><br /><em>2.&nbsp;<a href="http://therealdeal.com/blog/2013/05/09/manhattan-renters-get-ready-for-a-cutthroat-summer/" target="_blank">Manhattan renters: get ready for a cutthroat summer</a></em><br /><em>3.&nbsp;<a href="http://therealdeal.com/blog/2013/05/09/million-dollar-listing-new-york-season-debut-the-real-story/" target="_blank">&ldquo;Million Dollar Listing New York&rdquo; season debut: The real story</a></em></p><p><a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/the-world-trade-center-is-having-a-tough-time-finding-tenants-2013-5#comments">Join the conversation about this story &#187;</a></p>